Afghanistan

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what part they will play in the review proposed by President Karzai of all Afghan prisoners and detainees; and whether the review will include persons originally captured or arrested by British forces.

Lord Astor of Hever: As yet we have had no formal clarification from the Government of Afghanistan on the scope of the review or the role they may wish the UK Government to play.
	Once we have received further detail about the review, we will work with international partners to provide support where appropriate.

Agriculture: Genetically Modified Crops

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research has been conducted into the rate of degradation of glyphosate in the soil; and what were the findings of any such research.

Lord Henley: Defra has not conducted research on this issue. Applicants for approval of plant protection products are required to submit relevant information on the behaviour of glyphosate in the environment.
	There is a wide range of information, including published research, that demonstrates that glyphosate can degrade relatively slowly in soil. The reason for this is that glyphosate molecules can bind strongly to soil particles and are essentially inactive in this state. The glyphosate molecules then degrade as they are liberated from the soil particles.

Agriculture: Genetically Modified Crops

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research has been conducted into whether the application of glyphosate to plants modified for resistance to the product can stimulate the growth of plant pathogens; and, if so, which pathogens were found to be stimulated.

Lord Henley: Defra has not conducted research on this issue but we are aware of a paper published in 2009 that reviews the potential effect of glyphosate on plant pathogens, in connection with the use of genetically modified glyphosate-resistant crops: Glyphosate effects on disease of plants, Johal, G.S., Huber, D.M., European Journal of Agronomy 31, 144-152.
	There are currently no genetically modified glyphosate-resistant crops grown commercially in the UK and this paper does not affect the regulatory position for existing approved glyphosate products.

Agriculture: Sheep Tagging

The Duke of Montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the supervision of the issuing of sequential numbers for electronic identification tags for sheep is centrally based for the whole of the United Kingdom or carried out by each devolved Administration; and, if there is one site, where it is.

Lord Henley: Electronic identification numbers (EID) for tags for sheep keepers in Great Britain are issued from the Ear Tag Allocation System operated by the Rural Payments Agency in Workington. In Northern Ireland they are issued from DARD's Animal and Public Health Information System in Belfast. Each EID number includes the keeper's unique flock mark (number) followed by a unique sequential animal number.

Agriculture: Sheep Tagging

The Duke of Montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether data on the movements of electronically identified sheep to markets and slaughterhouses will be transmitted to the recording service electronically or manually.

Lord Henley: Electronic identification (EID) of sheep is an EU requirement, but the administration and implementation of it is an issue for devolved Administrations.
	In England, local authorities will continue to record batch movement data onto the central movement database on a manual basis.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to rotate Royal Navy crews while maintaining Her Majesty's ships on station away from United Kingdom waters.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Royal Navy operates crew rotation at different intervals and levels depending on the demands and tasking of the ships deployed. These manning regimes allow the Royal Navy to maintain a high level of operational effectiveness while at the same time ensuring that the harmony requirements of individual service personnel are met.

Asset Confiscation Orders

Lord Dear: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to improve enforcement of asset confiscation orders.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The Government will consider how to improve the enforcement of asset confiscation orders and asset recovery more generally.

Aviation: BAA

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received a request for financial assistance from BAA in respect of losses incurred due to volcanic ash; and, if so, for how much.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport received a letter from BAA dated 26 April about the effects on the company of the disruption due to volcanic ash cloud between 15 April and 20 April 2010.
	The Government recognise the significant financial impact for BAA and other UK airports during the period of the airspace restrictions due to volcanic ash in April. At this stage, the Government have no plans to provide financial assistance to cover any losses incurred by airports. The starting point must be for businesses in any sector to meet their operating risks. Pressure on public finances also makes support difficult. However, the Government will keep the position under review. The meeting of EU Transport Ministers on 24 June will be taking stock of the ongoing impact of the ash cloud and the response at EU level.

Banking: Iceland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much financial support they have paid to depositors in Icelandic banks; and how much of that has been retrieved.

Lord Sassoon: Details of the financial support provided to retail depositors in Icelandic banks for the 2008-09 financial year are set out in the Treasury's resource accounts for 2008-09 (HC611).
	Total gross support in respect of Heritable Bank, Icesave and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander amounted to just under £8.1 billion. This £8.1 billion constitutes just under £6.7 billion of loans to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to cover depositors' claims within £50,000, and £1.4 billion of statutory debt (HMT top-up payments) to cover depositors' claims above the £50,000 cap.
	Further details of the position at 31 March 2010, including recoveries made to that date, will be published in the Treasury's Resource Accounts for 2009-10.

Banking: Iceland

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the amount likely to be recovered from Iceland in respect of payments made on behalf of Iceland by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Her Majesty's Government; and how that figure relates to the amount owed.

Lord Sassoon: The Government are committed to working to reach agreement with Iceland to repay the loan made in respect of Iceland's obligations under the deposit guarantee scheme directive to UK depositors in Icesave.

Burundi

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent elections in Burundi; how much financial and logistical assistance they gave for those elections; and whether that assistance has given value for money.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Communal elections took place in Burundi on 24 May 2010. These had been delayed slightly from 21 May due to technical difficulties experienced by the National Election Commission (French acronym CENI). The EU Observation Mission (EUOM) published a preliminary report on 27 May 2010 stating that, aside from some delays in preparation, the election was in accordance with international norms, conducted in an atmosphere of calm, with security assured by the police and army, and a massive turn-out (which CENI put at over 90 per cent). We agree with this early assessment.
	The Department for International Development will contribute up to £1.8 million to the entire Burundi electoral process, including £1 million to the UN Development Programme (UNDP)-managed basket fund to provide technical assistance and support to electoral operations. Funding was also made available to provide an electoral adviser to EU member states to help them make informed and consistent decisions and to strengthen political dialogue with the authorities.
	We look closely and continuously at the value for money aspects of UK funding in Burundi. We have provided assistance that has provided recognisable value for money, such as supporting funding to a pool of 18 journalists to produce high-quality and independent reporting on the elections. We have also helped fund an EU elections expert, who has provided advice to CENI, the UNDP, and the EU, and has been instrumental in helping to find vital cost savings in the use of UN funding of the electoral process.

Buses

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have proposals which may increase the cost of travel by bus; and, if so, whether the impact on passenger numbers of any such action is being taken into account.

Earl Attlee: The Government have no proposals which will increase the cost of travel by bus. When we bring forward proposals in respect of bus policy, we will consider all of the wider implications, including any potential impact on passenger numbers.

Buses

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider alternative criteria for the concessionary bus fares scheme, or making a small charge for using the concession, to prevent local authorities and bus operators having unfunded cost burdens.

Earl Attlee: The coalition agreement sets out a commitment to protect free bus travel for older people. The right to free bus travel (including provision of a pass free of charge) for older and disabled people is enshrined in primary legislation. The Government have no plans to alter this, but are considering what steps might be taken to improve the operation and cost-effectiveness of the scheme.

Cambodia

Lord Alderdice: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Cambodia about the lifting of parliamentary immunity of certain Cambodian opposition MPs by the Cambodian Government, and the initiation of court cases by the Government against opposition MPs such as Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK, with EU partners, have raised concerns with the Government of Cambodia about treatment of opposition members of the National Assembly on a number of occasions. Opposition parties also need to engage constructively with the political process. Our ambassador to Cambodia intends to raise the democratic rights of opposition parliamentarians, including the question of parliamentary immunity, at a meeting with the Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, on 15 June.
	The UK through our embassy in Phnom Penh also supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia, whose visit to the country on 8-17 June is focusing on concerns about the political independence of the judiciary.

Cambodia

Lord Alderdice: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the Government of Cambodia about the alleged political persecution of Sam Rainsy and members of his party; and, if so, whether they asked for the restoration of their parliamentary immunity.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK, with EU partners, have raised concerns with the Government of Cambodia about treatment of opposition members of the National Assembly on a number of occasions. Opposition parties also need to engage constructively with the political process. Our ambassador to Cambodia intends to raise the democratic rights of opposition parliamentarians, including the question of parliamentary immunity, at a meeting with the Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, on 15 June.
	The UK, through our embassy in Phnom Penh, also supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia, whose visit to the country on 8-17 June is focusing on concerns about the political independence of the judiciary.

Children: Protection

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many child protection cases awaiting court hearings there were in each of the past three years for which figures are available.

Lord McNally: The table below shows the number of care and supervision cases outstanding as at the end of December in each year from 2007 to 2009 in the family proceedings courts and county courts of England and Wales.
	
		
			 Total number of Care and Supervision outstanding cases 
			  2007 2008 2009 
			 Family Proceedings Courts 5,181 4,648 7,272 
			 County Courts 4,313 4,029 5,722 
			 Total 9,494 8,677 12,994

Crown Prosecution Service

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) men and (b) women are employed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: At 31 March 2010 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employed 2,922 men (33.63 per cent) and 5,767 women (66.37 per cent).

Deposit Guarantee Schemes

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to bring the guaranteed protection for ISAs in line with the guarantees on bank deposits.

Lord Sassoon: Cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs are standard savings accounts and are subject to the same rules as other accounts under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The current deposit compensation limit, which applies to cash ISAs, under the FSCS is the higher of £50,000 or €50,000. The investment compensation limit, which applies to stocks and shares ISAs, is £50,000.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (on the power to force entry to premises in order to execute warrants of distress issued under Section 76 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980) on the number of warrants successfully enforced and amounts recovered.

Lord McNally: The contracts held between Her Majesty's Court Service and private bailiff companies contain a specific protocol on the use of forced entry by private bailiffs. This protocol sets out the procedure that must be followed before any use of forced entry by private bailiffs. The procedure specifies the line of communication between the bailiff, their manager, and a nominated officer at the court that must take place before the use of forced entry is approved. This ensures that all relevant and current information regarding the defaulter can be considered before any action is taken.
	As part of the contract monthly reporting requirements, private bailiff companies must report the use of forced entry powers to Her Majesty's Court Service. The contracts set out what information must be included by the bailiff companies.
	The use of the search and entry powers by private bailiff companies has been minimal. There have been only been nine instances where forced entry has been used since the use of private bailiff contracts began in 2006, of which eight resulted in payments being made and a total of £7,696 taken in fines and bailiff fees by the bailiff companies.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will revoke paragraph 3 of Schedule 4A to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (inserted by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (on the right to force entry to premises in order to execute warrants of distress issued under Section 76 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980)) to restore the status of unpaid sums adjudged to be paid upon conviction as civil debts owed to the state to be enforced like other civil debts.

Lord McNally: The Government intend to retain the forced entry powers contained in Schedule 4A to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, inserted by Schedule 4 to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. The powers contained in that schedule are key to successful enforcement which will ensure fines remain an effective and credible sentence. Therefore there are no plans to revoke.

Drugs: Heroin

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are considering introducing supervised injectible heroin in combination with psychosocial support to vulnerable women with heroin addiction working in prostitution, as a means to reduce harm, in the light of clinical trials reported recently in the Lancet.

Earl Howe: Any approach that helps people get off drugs for good should be explored. The department will look at the evidence, including the recently published evidence in the Lancet, on the use of injectable medicinal heroin to treat entrenched heroin users.
	Currently, a wide range of specialist drug treatment services are available and accessible in each of the 149 local authority areas in England, for everyone who needs help for drug problems, including sex workers.

Elections: Rwanda

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of progress towards Rwanda's presidential elections in August; and how much financial and logistical assistance they are providing for those elections.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We feel that Rwanda has made progress in developing the necessary institutions to take forward the democratic process. We are working closely with the Rwandan National Election Commission (NEC) and monitoring preparations for the 2010 presidential elections. We have encouraged the NEC to implement fully the recommendations made by the EU Election Observer Mission in 2008. The Government of Rwanda have invited international election observers, including from the Commonwealth, the EU and the African Union.
	The UK, through the Department for International Development (DfID), is providing the NEC with £3 million assistance in support of its strategic plan for 2008-12. This includes logistical IT support, covering voter registration, results management, and administration of election materials. The UK, through DfID, provided a total of £52 million in assistance to Rwanda in the financial year 2009-10.

Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts Order 1993

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance on article 5(1) of the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts Order 1993 (SI 1993/2073) on the information that should appear on the warrant of execution issued, and whether that information should be the same as that appearing on a writ of fieri facias.

Lord McNally: No guidance has been issued. The warrant of execution would not contain the same information as that appearing on a writ of fieri facias as although they are similar in nature they relate to different types of debts.

EU: Regulation

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to bring European Union regulations within the purview of the review of regulation being undertaken by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Baroness Wilcox: The fundamental review of regulation scheduled for introduction over the coming year, initiated by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, will also encompass European Union regulation contained within the forward regulatory programme, published in March 2010.

Financial Services: Equities

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of algorithmic or high frequency trading of equities to liquidity or its effect as a potential source of systemic risk.

Lord Sassoon: The implications of high frequency trading for equity markets are currently being assessed by the Financial Services Authority, including in the context of the Committee of European Securities Regulators' contribution to the European Commission's upcoming review of the markets in financial instruments directive.

Health: Complementary and Alternative Medicines

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency intends to take to ensure that herbal practitioners may still commission the manufacture of unlicensed herbal medicines after April 2011.

Earl Howe: Under the European medicines legislative framework manufactured medicines placed on the market require an appropriate product licence. Directive 2004/24/EC had the effect of confirming that this requirement applied fully to herbal medicines once the transitional period under the directive expires on 30 April 2011. For these products, either a marketing authorisation or a traditional herbal registration will be required.
	The option exists for European Union member states to create regulatory arrangements under Article 5.1 of directive 2001/83/EC for those designated as authorised healthcare professionals to commission an unlicensed manufactured medicine to meet the special needs of an individual patient on the professional responsibility of the clinician. However, herbal practitioners are currently not subject to systematic professional regulation. In 2009, the department, along with devolved health departments, consulted on the regulation of practitioners of herbal medicine, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. Once we have considered the consultation responses we will make clear how we intend to proceed, including as to the possibility of creating a scheme under Article 5.1 for herbal practitioners.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Archer of Sandwell: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 19 January (WA 237), on what dates correspondence was exchanged between the blood policy team in the Department of Health and the Blood and Tissue Policy Unit in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Health and Children; and whether they will place that correspondence in the Library of the House.

Earl Howe: The blood policy team in the department and the Blood and Tissue Policy Unit in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Health and Children keep in regular contact on a number of matters to ensure the accuracy of policy statements made by each of relevance to the other. Some of these communications, which relate to matters in the public domain, will be placed in the Library of the House by the end of the month. Confidential information obtained from another state related to the development of that Government's policy will not be made public.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government , further to the answers by Earl Howe on 2 June (Official Report, cols. 247-8), whether officials in the Department of Health have met officials in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Health and Children to discuss compensation for those infected with contaminated blood since the judgment of the High Court in March v Secretary of State for Health; if so, on what date; which officials in both countries were involved; what record was taken of the meeting; and whether they will place the record in the Library of the House.

Earl Howe: Officials in the department have not met officials in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Health and Children to discuss compensation for those infected with contaminated blood since the judgment of the High Court in March v Secretary of State for Health.

Independent Networks Co-operative Association Ltd

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider terminating and recovering all funds paid which were the subject of the grant offer issued on 17 December 2009 to Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) by the Director of Communications, Content Industries Directorate, at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills addressed to Mr Malcom Corbett, Chief Executive, Independent Networks Co-operative Association, although he was acting chief executive officer until the first meeting of the INCA Ltd interim board on 20 January 2010.

Baroness Wilcox: No.

Indonesia

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Indonesia about that government's payments to Aceh under the oil and gas sharing agreement, and about whether the payments are independently audited.

Lord Howell of Guildford: No representations have been made by the Government to the Government of Indonesia on the Aceh oil and gas sharing agreement.

International Criminal Court Statute

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a signatory country to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court may seek a referral to the Court of a country which is not a signatory.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The conditions under which the International Criminal Court may exercise its jurisdiction and states may refer a situation are set out in the Rome statute under Articles 13 and 14. The referral of a situation in a non-state party is possible under Article 13(b) when the situation has been referred by the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN charter.

Legal Aid

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the availability of family legal aid practices in England and Wales.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the change in the number of legal aid practices in England and Wales between 2000 and the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lord McNally: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) currently has 2,677 offices in England and Wales contracted to do family work. In addition, specialist family telephone advice has been available through the community legal advice telephone service since August 2009.
	The table below sets out the numbers of offices contracted to do civil and criminal work since 2000. Although the numbers of offices have decreased since 2000, many of the providers have merged to provide services, or undertook only a small amount of legal aid work, which has since been taken up by others. In 2008-09 the LSC funded 1.3 million civil and family acts of assistance, including a record of over 1 million legal help acts of assistance via face-to-face services and telephone advice.
	The LSC has recently tendered for new family contracts to begin in October 2010. The result of the tenders are still being analysed but there has been substantial interest in family contracts.
	
		
			 Number of Offices holding Civil and Criminal Contracts 
			 At end March Civil Criminal 
			 2000 5,286 N/A 
			 2001 5,221 2,925 
			 2002 5,321 2,909 
			 2003 5,061 2,900 
			 2004 4,715 2,669 
			 2005 4,430 2,643 
			 2006 4,101 2,608 
			 2007 3,895 2,510 
			 2008 3,627 2,230 
			 2009 3,585 2,245

Police: Pursuits

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the code of practice on the management of police pursuits will be issued to police forces.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is conducting a public consultation on the draft of a possible code. The consultation ends on 20 June. We shall consider the code further in the light of responses to this consultation.

Public Bodies and Agencies

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the 20 non-departmental public bodies and agencies being reviewed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for possible abolition or merger.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government are committed to reducing both the number and cost of public bodies. We are looking at the need for the functions carried out by all the public bodies for which BIS has responsibility and whether those functions should continue to be carried out by a public body. We expect that this will result in a reduction of around 20 bodies through mergers or abolition. Final decisions on which bodies should be merged or abolished have yet to be taken. However, the coalition programme for government committed to supporting the creation of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to replace regional development agencies. These will be local partnerships between councils and businesses, with the option for a regional-level LEP where there is public support for this.

Public Bodies and Agencies

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the 13 non-departmental public bodies or agencies reporting to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills described by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, as being "got rid of, merged or having their funding cut"; and what is their estimate of savings to public expenditure.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government are committed to reducing the number and cost of public bodies. BIS has already taken action to reduce the number of its public bodies by 13 compared with last year. The 13 bodies are:
	seven regional industrial development boards, which have been closed down;Ufl/Learndirect is to operate as an independent training provider from 1 August and will be eligible on the same basis as other training providers for funding from the Skills Funding Agency;Learning and Skills Improvement Service, which from April 2011 will be owned and funded by the further education sector, rather than by BIS;Institute for Learning, which as an independent membership body will become progressively self-funding by March 2013;Standards and Verification UK, public funding for which will end in March 2011;Investors in People UK, which has merged with the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; and Hearing Aid Council, which is being abolished and its responsibility for registering hearing aid dispensers transferred to the Health Professions Council.
	As a result, savings of over £50 million are already being made in 2010-11 and additional annual savings of £24 million are estimated from 2011-12 onwards. In addition to the savings to BIS, the abolition of the Hearing Aid Council will mean savings of £1 million a year to the industry.

Public Expenditure

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the public expenditure cuts announced for 2010-11 directly relate to waste and inefficiency.

Lord Sassoon: The Government announced over £6 billion of in-year savings in May 2010. Of this, £3.85 billion relates to savings categorised as wasteful or inefficient including planned reductions in spend on IT, property, recruitment and quangos. The Government are also taking steps to ensure that all areas of discretionary expenditure, such as consultancy and travel, are reduced. Where it is possible government contracts will be renegotiated to ensure the best value for the tax payer.
	£1.165 billion of savings will also be made in local government by reducing grants to local authorities to reflect their contribution to the £6.2 billion, and the devolved Administrations will contribute £704 million. A further £0.52 billion will be saved by stopping low value spend. As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said in his announcement of the £6.2 billion savings, "we want to protect the key front-line services which people depend upon ..." For example, money allocated to individual school budgets, to local authorities for Sure Start, and funding for core 16-19 participation will be protected from any in year spending cuts. The Government will also remove the ring fences around over £1.7 billion of grants to local authorities in 2010-11, to give them greater flexibility to re-shape their budgets and find savings in the areas set out above, while maintaining the quality of services to their customers. Devolved Administrations have been given the option of deferring their share of the £6.2 billion until the next financial year.

Railways: Fares

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the latest research on the price elasticity of railway fares; and what effect such research will have on rail fares policy.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport plans to carry out during summer 2010 a review of the rail price elasticity recommendations provided in the most recent passenger demand forecasting handbook. This review will add to the evidence base which informs Ministers' policy decisions.

Railways: Value for Money

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the report on value for money on the Intercity Express project.

Earl Attlee: The Government expect to receive the report on the value for money of the Intercity Express Programme very soon.
	The report-and the Government's response to it-will be published in due course.

Refugee and Migrant Justice

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to public funds of any closure of Refugee and Migrant Justice and other not-for-profit organisations due to legal aid funding arrangements, including the cost of payments to providers prior to their closure.

Lord McNally: The current legal aid funding arrangements have applied to most not for profit (NfP) organisations since October 2007, although Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) has had alternative transitional arrangements.
	If any provider ceases to have a legal aid contract for whatever reason, then the LSC will have to make an assessment of any potential financial issues in the individual circumstances. This will consider payments on account made, claims to be billed and whether for example the provider will be continuing to conclude cases for existing clients. One reason that LSC funding arrangements aim to reconcile claims against payments is to ensure that public funds are protected.

Schools: Academies

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many academies with sixth form students do not offer A-levels in (a) English language, (b) English literature, (c) mathematics, (d) biology, (e) chemistry, (f) physics, and (g) geography.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The department does not hold information about the A-level subjects that are offered by academies. Academies, like other providers, will take account of demand for subjects when offering A-level courses. Academies in federations are also likely to have a cross-site arrangement in the A-level courses on offer.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will "facilitate inclusive admissions policies in as many [faith] schools as possible", as set out in The Coalition: Our Programme for Government; what effect that will have on the ability of such schools to determine their admissions policies; whether they intend to set quotas for such schools; and what assessment they have made of the impact on the ethos of such schools.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The department has strong and productive working relationships with all faith groups, founded on respect for the high quality education they have provided for many years, and I am looking forward to continuing working with them on these issues.
	As set out in The Coalition: Our Programme for Government, we will work with providers of faith based education to ensure that the schools they run serve their communities. All school admission arrangements have to comply with the statutory requirements of the school admissions code and related legislation. This ensures that all school places are awarded in a fair and open way. Schools that are their own admission authority will continue to be able to set their own admission arrangements and must ensure that they are compliant with the code. Many faith schools already admit children that are of another, or of no faith, helping ensure that their intake reflects the diversity of these communities. To support our new expansion of the academies programme we have made it clear that existing faith schools that convert to become academies will retain the ability to set their own admissions criteria and may continue to use faith based criteria in line with the admissions code.
	We fully understand how important it is for schools to have and express their own distinct ethos. This is why the admissions code allows all schools to include in their admission arrangements a factual statement about their ethos. However, this is just one way for a school to communicate its ethos; schools are also free to develop and underline their ethos through their curriculum, assemblies and daily acts of collective worship.

Somalia

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will discuss whether to recognise the independence of Somaliland within the boundaries of former British Somaliland with countries in the region and with the European Union.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government currently have no plans to discuss the recognition of Somaliland with countries in the region or with the European Union. However, we keep our policy on recognition under review and will seek to build on our strong bilateral relationship with Somaliland, acknowledging the relative peace and stability that exists there.

Uganda

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the situation in Uganda and reports that the Allied Democratic Forces are regrouping in eastern Congo near the Ugandan border area where international companies are preparing to produce oil.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There have been some recent reports on the Government of Uganda's concern that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are regrouping in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. We have not received any information that either corroborates or contradicts these reports, but we will continue to monitor the situation and maintain our contacts with the Ugandan military. We currently assess that while the ADF is capable of carrying out small military operations, it does not in itself threaten the overall stability of the region.

UK Bill of Rights

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost of establishing and running the commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many public sector employees would be involved in the commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights; and at what salaries they would be employed.

Lord McNally: The Government will make a Statement to Parliament on the appointment of the commission on a Bill of Rights and the estimated resources and associated costs in due course.

Visas

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the Government of South Africa's new requirement that St Helenians holding a British overseas territory citizen's passport must apply for a visa before travelling to South Africa, and the amount of notice which was given of this requirement.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Our high commission in Pretoria has been in contact with the Government of the Republic of South Africa over visa requirements for St Helenians holding British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) passports. I am pleased to say that the South African Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that BOTC passports will continue to be accepted for entry to South Africa without a visa.

Visas

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist the efforts of the Government of St Helena to persuade the Government of South Africa to relax the new requirement for visas for St Helenians visiting South Africa under medical emergency arrangements.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Our high commission in Pretoria has been in contact with the Government of the Republic of South Africa over visa requirements for St Helenians holding British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) passports. I am pleased to say that the South African Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that BOTC passports will continue to be accepted for entry to South Africa without a visa.